Friday Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 01:11 PM CET - Feb,07 2003
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- Nintendo to Give Games Away, Cut Prices - Nintendo on Thursday said
it
would cut prices on some of its top games and give away hit games with its
console as it works to boost sales for the struggling GameCube. Nintendo said
it would offer one of four games for free with the $149.95 GameCube. GameCube
buyers will be able to choose from "Metroid Prime," "Star Fox Adventures,"
"Mario Party 4" or "Resident Evil 0" with purchase of the console. Nintendo
also slashed the price on its bundled offering of the GameCube, "Super Mario
Sunshine" and an external memory card to $159.95 from $189.95. Purchased
individually, the three components of the pack would cost almost $215. A
number of games from early in the GameCube's history, like "Luigi's Mansion"
and "Super Smash Bros. Melee," will be cut in price to $29.95 from $49.95 as
part of a "Player's Choice" program, the company said.
- MSN deliberately breaks Opera's browser, claims company - Opera
Software has accused Microsoft of deliberately engineering the MSN home
page in order to make it look as if the Opera browser has a serious flaw in
it. And the Norwegian company has
published the results of an investigation which it says proves this.
- Microsoft issues security bulletins for Internet Explorer and XP -
Microsoft Corp.
issued two security advisories yesterday pointing to a "critical" flaw in
its Internet Explorer browser and a second, less severe problem with its
Windows XP operating system. The problem with Explorer stems from a security
function in the software designed to stop one domain, such as a Web site, from
sharing information with another domain, Microsoft said in a
security bulletin. Microsoft has discovered that such information-sharing
can occur when certain dialog boxes are used.
- US and UK arrests in computer worm probe -
Two UK men were arrested this morning following police raids in the UK and
US aimed at dismantling an international hacker group believed to have created
a virulent computer worm. Officers from the Durham Constabulary arrested
a 19 year-old electrician and a 21 year-old unemployed man after seizing
evidence related to computer and drugs offences during a raid on two addresses
in County Durham this morning.
- Public-Computer Users Beware - A college student was indicted on
Thursday on charges he placed software on dozens of computers that allowed him
to secretly monitor what people were typing, and
then stole around $2,000 using information he gleaned.
- MS toughens Windows Server 2003 - Microsoft wants
to assure
big companies that its upcoming Windows Server 2003 operating system is
ready to handle complex business applications. The software giant on Thursday
detailed a series of features it has added to Windows Server 2003 to improve
the reliability of the server operating system and cut down on the amount of
unplanned downtime for servers. Windows Server 2003, which is due in April,
will compete with variants of the Unix operating system from companies like
Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and IBM.
- Japanese scientist invents 'invisibility cloak' - A Japanese
scientist has
developed a coat which appears to make the wearer invisible. The illusion
was part of a demonstration of optical camouflage technology at Tokyo
University. It is the brainchild of Professor Susumu Tachi who is in the early
stage of research he hopes will eventually make camouflaged objects virtually
transparent.
- Scientists develop darkest substance on earth - British scientists
have invented
the darkest material on Earth. The super-black coating was developed by
researchers at the National Physical Laboratory in London. It could
revolutionise optical instruments because it reflects 10 to 20 times less
light than the black paint currently used to reduce unwanted reflections.
- Education overhaul urged for nanotech revolution - U.S. educational
institutions
haven't done enough to prepare students and the nation for the transition
to nanotechnology, and should alter curricula as early as the K-12 level to
get ready for the coming revolution, academics and research leaders said.
- Leaking Capacitors Muck up Motherboards -
Aluminum electrolytic capacitors with a low equivalent series resistance
(ESR) are high-capacitance components that generally serve to smooth out the
power supply to chips. Throughout 2002, they have been breaking open and
failing in certain desktop PCs. Motherboard and PC makers contacted by IEEE
Spectrum have stopped using the faulty parts, but because the parts can fail
over a period of several months, more such failures are expected.
- Nvidia now expected to dump GeForce FX -
Sources
close to Nvidia tell the INQUIRER that the graphics firm has told its
partners that the GeForce FX is likely to be discontinued, with the firm
instead concentrating on the NV35 platform. The sources said that the firm has
made the move because of an update that its bitter rival ATI is expected to
soon roll out of the door. Nvidia could not be contacted for confirmation at
press time, but earlier this week a PR representative said that he "could not
comment" on the previous reports. Insiders had told the INQ earlier this year
that Nvidia was only forecasting 100,000 units of the GeForce FX to ship
before the end of May.
- John Carmack evaluates ATI, nVidia flagchips - Beyond3D has
posted
an
interview with John Carmack as he talks about differences between the ATI
9700 Pro and the nVidia GeForce FX.
- Six DVD recorders tested - Tom's Hardware Guide has posted
an
article in which they have tested the following six DVD writers, Philips
DVDRW228K(DVD+R/ RW), Pioneer DVR-A05 (DVD-R/ RW),Ricoh MP5125A (DVD+R/ RW),
Sony DRU120A (DVD+R/ RW), TEAC DV-W50E (DVD-R/ RW), Sony DRU-500A (DVD-R/ RW
and DVD+R/ RW).
- First Look at Nvidia's Geforce FX - PC World's exclusive
tests of a GeForceFX 5800 Ultra suggest that unless NVidia can speed the
board's operation significantly through updated drivers, the most noise this
high-end board will make is from the dull roar of its extensive cooling
system. The GeForceFX 5800 is scheduled to appear in PCs arriving at retail in
early March; NVidia partners should begin shipping retail boards priced at
about $400 around the same time.
- The First Pentium-M Notebook Put To The Test - Intel is soon to
bring a new mobile platform to life under the brand name "Intel Centrino
Mobile Technology." Even before the product launch, Tom's Hardware
got the opportunity to test a notebook with the new Pentium-M (codenamed
"Banias"). And the results look very promising.
- WinDVD Tweaker 4.2 -
WinDVD Tweaker is designed to allow users of the WinDVD playback software
to enable some hidden settings and allow for maximum playback pleasure.
- NeroMIX 1.3.1.6c -
NeroMIX (mirrror)
creates or copies anything you throw at it, in the slickest possible way.
NeroMIX combines dynamic CD burning (data, audio, copying) with the newest
Internet audio technology, all in one customizable interface.
- Nero InCD 3.5.20.0b -
InCD (mirror) is an
integrated packet writing solution that has the most stability, ease of use,
and compatibility, across all Windows operating systems. Packet writing is the
method of writing data in small increments (by packets) onto a rewritable
media.
- NeroVision Express 1.0.43b -
NeroVision Express (mirror)
guides you through the whole process of creating DVDs, VCDs and SVCDs in an
easy and innovative way.
- Fresh Diagnose 5.50 -
Fresh Diagnose (download)
is an utility designed to analyze and benchmark your computer system. It can
analyze and benchmark many kinds of hardware, such as CPU performance, hard
disk performance, video system information, mainboard information and more!
- Intel Processor Frequency ID Utility 5.0 -
The Intel Processor Frequency ID Utility was developed by Intel
Corporation to enable consumers the ability to identify and, in some
circumstances, determine if their Intel processor is operating at the correct
and rated frequency intended by Intel Corporation. Beginning with the PentiumR
processor, this utility provides consumers with the ability to determine
standard CPU identification of Intel processors. In addition, supported
processors can utilize the Frequency Test feature of the utility to help
determine if a processor has been overclocked.
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Updated:12:40 AM CEST Jun,21
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